OVERVIEW

Restorative yoga is a powerful antidote to the daily toll that stress and anxiety can take on the body, mind, and heart. This comprehensive professional training offers the skills, knowledge, and experience you need to lead your students through the holistic healing journey of restorative yoga, including:

  • Expert instruction in restorative postures

  • How relaxation affects the nervous system in positive ways and triggers the healing process

  • The use of pranayama, meditation, visualization, and affirmations to deepen states of relaxed awareness well-being

  • Sequencing, use of props, scripts, and safe physical adjustments

  • Ways to integrate applied anatomy and Ayurvedic principles and philosophy

  • Introduction to Polyvagal Theory


    This course focuses on 8 key areas:

  • Language: Communicate with clarity

  • Sequencing: Decoding the relationship between poses

  • Self-Empathy: Trust yourself first

  • Props: Giving and receiving support

  • The Yoga Sutra: Integrate this ancient wisdom

  • Touch: Offering information with your hands

  • Ethics: Creating a true profession

  • Savasana: Yoga's most powerful pose

DETAILS

  • Dates: July -August 2026

  • Tuition: $989.00 (AYTT graduates enquire about discounted tuition and this program is included in the Atlas 500hr YTT program - Specializations)

  • Hours: 100hr program (50 contact hours, 10hrs of Teaching, 1 case study, research, writing, literature review

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*Please note: payment is required to register for the program. Payment plans are available on request.

PREREQUISITES

  • 200 Hour YTT &/or Physical Education or Kinesiology Degree
    Basic knowledge of Anatomy & Physiology

  • If you are a graduate from another school of yoga, we will require a copy of your certificate, an up-to-date FirstAid/CPR/AED certificate and a copy of your syllabus to ensure that you have covered basic foundational principles assumed in this program. This may require that you do a small amount of work to understand basics in our teaching style.

COURSE OUTLINE:

Below is a comprehensive Advanced YTT in Restorative Yoga course outline designed for experienced teachers (200hr+), followed by an additional specialization track for yoga therapists and highly experienced faculty-level teachers.

This framework assumes 50–100 hours total training (adjustable to your program needs).

🌿 Advanced Restorative Yoga Teacher Training

A Trauma-Informed, Therapeutic, and Nervous-System Centered Approach

Program Vision

This training deepens the art and science of restorative yoga as a profound therapeutic modality. Participants refine observational skills, therapeutic language, nervous system literacy, and advanced prop architecture while cultivating ethical, inclusive, and trauma-informed teaching.

PART I — Foundations of Advanced Restorative Practice

Module 1: The Philosophy & Subtle Foundations of Restoration

  • Historical roots of restorative yoga

    • Influence of B.K.S. Iyengar

    • Development through Judith Hanson Lasater

  • Restoration vs. relaxation vs. sleep

  • Effortless effort (prayatna shaithilya)

  • Parasympathetic dominance and yogic frameworks

  • Restorative yoga as a contemplative practice

  • Ethics of touch, support, and power dynamics

Practicum: Long-form supported savasana laboratory (60–90 min holds)

Module 2: The Neurophysiology of Deep Rest

  • Autonomic nervous system regulation

  • Polyvagal theory (overview)

    • Stephen Porges

  • Window of tolerance and titration

  • Stress physiology and burnout recovery

  • Restorative yoga and inflammation

  • Pain science overview (central sensitization)

Practicum: Sequencing for dorsal vagal hypoarousal vs. sympathetic hyperarousal

Module 3: Advanced Prop Architecture & Biomechanics

  • Precision in bolstering:

    • Spinal decompression

    • Pelvic neutral vs. posterior tilt

    • Rib cage support for breath optimization

  • Weighting vs. containing

  • The psychology of sandbags

  • Fascia and sustained load

  • When less support is more therapeutic

Lab: Ways to build supported backbends
Lab: Designing asymmetrical restoratives safely

Module 4: Language, Pacing & the Art of Holding Space

  • Non-performative teaching

  • Invitational vs directive cueing

  • Voice modulation and cadence

  • Silence as intervention

  • Trauma-sensitive phrasing

  • Co-regulation through presence

Teaching Practicum: 20-minute guided restorative experience (peer feedback)

Module 5: Sequencing for Specific Populations

  • Burnout & adrenal fatigue patterns

  • Grief and loss

  • Anxiety disorders

  • Chronic pain

  • Perimenopause & menopause

  • Caregiver fatigue

  • Neurological conditions (Parkinson’s, MS, post-stroke considerations)

Case-study based sequencing labs.

Module 6: Restorative as a Clinical Bridge

  • When restorative is primary vs adjunct

  • Contraindications & red flags

  • Collaboration with health professionals

  • Documentation basics

  • Scope of practice boundaries

PART II — Advanced Clinical & Subtle Body Integration

Module 7: Restorative & Pranayama Integration

  • Breath ratios in restorative

  • Subtle kumbhaka in supported poses

  • Ujjayi in restorative contexts

  • When pranayama dysregulates

  • CO₂ tolerance & breath-hold safety

Practicum: Designing 45-min restorative + pranayama sequences

Module 8: Restorative & Meditation

  • Yoga Nidra distinctions

  • Guided imagery vs interoceptive awareness

  • Trauma-informed nidra considerations

  • Anchoring vs dissociation

Teaching Lab: Script writing & delivery refinement

Module 9: The Business & Ethics of Therapeutic Restorative

  • Marketing without making medical claims

  • Informed consent language

  • Accessibility and pricing ethics

  • Inclusive spaces (body size, mobility, neurodiversity)

  • Cultural humility

Required Assessments

  • 3 full restorative class designs

  • 1 case study with intake, rationale, and reflection

  • 1 peer-teaching evaluation

  • Reflective journal (nervous system observations)

—————————————————————————————————————

🌺 ADDITIONAL SPECIALIZATION TRACK

For Yoga Therapists & Senior Teachers (C-IAYT or 500hr+ Recommended)

This section deepens restorative yoga as a clinical intervention tool.

Advanced Module A: Differential Assessment & Clinical Reasoning

  • Intake frameworks

  • Mapping symptom patterns to pose architecture

  • Pain mechanisms: nociceptive vs neuropathic vs nociplastic

  • Restorative for trauma vs depression vs autoimmune conditions

  • When to refer out

Clinical Practicum: Supervised therapeutic sessions

Advanced Module B: Restorative for Complex Trauma

  • Developmental trauma patterns

  • Attachment-informed sequencing

  • Avoiding dorsal collapse mimicry

  • Working with freeze responses

  • Touch ethics in trauma populations

Includes reference to somatic frameworks from:

  • Peter Levine

  • Bessel van der Kolk

Advanced Module C: Restorative in Integrative Healthcare Settings

  • Charting & SOAP notes

  • Interdisciplinary communication

  • Insurance language basics

  • Research literacy

  • Outcome measurement tools

Advanced Module D: Subtle Body & Energetic Literacy

  • Kosha model in therapeutic context

  • Restorative & chakra frameworks (clinically appropriate language)

  • Energetic containment vs expansion

  • Spiritual bypassing awareness

Advanced Module E: Research & Evidence Review

  • Current research on yoga & vagal tone

  • HRV and biofeedback

  • Inflammation markers

  • Limitations of current yoga research

  • Designing small pilot studies

Capstone:
Present a 60-minute therapeutic restorative session with case rationale and evidence-informed justification.

Suggested Reading

  • Light on Yoga – B.K.S. Iyengar

  • Relax and Renew – Judith Hanson Lasater

  • The Polyvagal Theory – Stephen Porges

  • In an Unspoken Voice – Peter Levine

  • The Body Keeps the Score – Bessel van der Kolk

Delivery Format Options

  • 8 weekend intensives

  • 5-day immersion + online integration

  • Hybrid (live + mentorship pods)

  • Clinical practicum placements